Nourish the Soul

Paying It Forward

The Lord has blessed my family with the wisdom to see that how we approach our everyday lives determines the quality of our lives at every level. How we think, how we eat, how we speak, how we act, how we pray…everything we do is a reflection of His grace and our response to Him.

I have learned many, if not most, of my life’s lessons the hard way. Honestly, I would have preferred to have learned them differently, but I probably would not have grown so much or have had as much color in my life if things had been “easy.” In going through various trials, I’ve learned to rely on the Lord’s strength when I found myself weak, and I’ve learned to rely on His joy when I found myself sad. The Bible says, in Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” I can’t count how many times I’ve leaned on that promise…and I found God faithful to lift me up and encourage me every time I turned to Him.

One of the blessings of having a challenging life has been that I have received comfort many, many times. Sometimes it came from unlikely places, like something I heard on TV, or through the lyrics of a song, or by sitting with one of my precious cats and hearing her purr contentedly. Other times, my comfort came by turning to the Scriptures and making a concerted effort to find one that pertained directly to my circumstance. Regardless of how I was uplifted, I know that the Lord provided the peace that helped me get over the hurdle I was facing at that time. 2 Corinthians 4 refers to the God of all comfort, “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Does that help you? It certainly helps me! That verse promises me that the encouragement I receive will somehow be a blessing to someone else I meet along the way. Do you remember the movie called “Pay It Forward”? It portrayed how one simple kindness, when shared, could reach out to countless people and improve their lives in remarkable ways. That’s what this Scripture is all about, paying it forward…in terms of sharing the comforts God gives us so that we may, in turn, comfort someone else. If you’ve never tried it, you should! You will be amazed at how much strength you garner as you share your blessings.